Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

A New Machine For Manufacturing Medicine

Kaiser Health News reports on a prototype machine that produces 1,000 pills in 24 hours and takes up the space of a refrigerator rather than a large factory.

Kaiser Health News:
Inventing A Machine That Spits Out Drugs In A Whole New Way
In a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, all the work that happens in a vast pharmaceutical manufacturing plant happens in a device the size of your kitchen refrigerator. And it's fast. This prototype machine produces 1,000 pills in 24 hours, faster than it can take to produce some batches in a factory. Allan Myerson, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT and a leader of the effort, says it could become eventually an option for anyone who makes medications, which typically require a lengthy and complex process of crystallization. (Bebinger, 5/26)

And how the cost of Gleevac could become an international incident —

Huffington Post:
Key Democrat Incensed Over ‘Intimidation’ For High Drug Prices
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has not publicly denied pressuring the Colombian government over Gleevec prices, nor has it disavowed invoking the Paz Colombia project during talks. On Thursday, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) called on Michael Froman — the top trade official in the Obama administration — to acknowledge Colombia’s right to permit generic drugs under international law. (Carter, 5/26)

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